Jesus Has a Plan
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Mark 3:22-27:
Mark 3:22-27:
And the scribes who came down from Jerusalem said, “He has Beelzebub,” and, “By the ruler of the demons He casts out demons.” So He called them to Himself and said to them in parables: “How can Satan cast out Satan? If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. And if a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand. And if Satan has risen up against himself, and is divided, he cannot stand, but has an end. No one can enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man. And then he will plunder his house.
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Jesus was casting out demons. Do we truly realize how important it was that he did this? Or, do we simply look past it as something we believe because it is in the Bible, yet has no real application to our life today? Worse yet, do we write it off as a fiction, something that didn't really happen, just an expression of limited scientific understanding?
I just saw it's importance myself a couple of days ago. The scribes accuse Jesus of casting out demons with demonic power. Jesus answers that this would be ridiculous. Why would satan destroy his own kingdom? Yet, demons are being cast out, and they must be cast out! Why?
Jesus is invading, breaking in, entering the strong man's house. The earth is enemy territory for the Prince of Glory. And, before Jesus can save us [the goods, the rightful property of the strong man] he must first defeat the strong man, satan, the master of this house. Unless satan is bound, unless the demonic is cast out, we cannot be stolen from the strong man and rescued to God.
Jesus has a plan:
Step One: Defeat satan.
Step Two: Steal those who once belonged to him.
Without Step One, Jesus says, Step Two is impossible.
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